The Five Best Jules Verne Characters

The Five Best Jules Verne Characters

5. Robur

Robur is a brilliant inventor and proponent of “heavier than air” crafts, who built an enormous rotorcraft vessel called “The Albatross.” Robur appears in two Verne novels, “Robur the Conqueror,” and “Master of the World.” Robur is a great character because he’s essentially a villain, a less-refined and more boastful version of Captain Nemo. Whereas Captain Nemo seeks isolation from the world with the Nautilus, Robur is eager to show off his inventions, and intends to use them to control others.

4. Tom Ayrton

Tom Ayrton is present in both “The Children of Captain Grant” and “The Mysterious Island.” Ayrton starts out as a mutinous pirate under the name of Ben Joyce, only to end up marooned on Tabor Island. There he is confronted with the guilt of his sins. In “The Mysterious Island,” he is rescued from Tabor Island after 12 years of isolation. Having regressed to a beast-like existence, Ayrton slowly regains his humanity and finds forgiveness in the company of his fellow castaways. Ayrton is more rounded than other Verne characters, and changes significantly due to the consequences of his own actions.

3. Phileas Fogg

Phileas Fogg is the main character in “Around the World in 80 Days.” He’s almost obsessively punctual and precise, proactive, large-hearted and brave. Despite his adroit time-management, Phileas Fogg ironically forgets to account for the day gained by traveling around the world and unknowingly wins the bet that sent him on his adventure. As a result of his travels, Fogg trades in his calculated mechanical lifestyle for an existence centered around love.

2. Captain Cyrus Harding

Cyrus Harding is the gifted engineer in “The Mysterious Island,” whose vast reserves of knowledge allow the castaways to civilize their surroundings with comfortable shelter, an abundant food supply, and yes, even a telegraph line. Like many of Verne’s protagonists, he’s incredibly brave and virtuous. What makes Cyrus Harding is compelling is his brilliant mind, without which the settlers of Lincoln Island would have certainly been doomed.

1. Captain Nemo

Undoubtedly, Captain Nemo is Verne’s best character creation. Born Prince Dakkar, Nemo is the tormented enemy of the British Empire, whose genius allows him to live an isolated life aboard the magnificent submarine The Nautilus. Captain Nemo’s past remains a mystery throughout Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, but is finally revealed in The Mysterious Island. Over the years, Captain Nemo’s captivating story has intrigued countless readers, and today his name is synonymous with adventure and the ocean. Captain Nemo is not only Jules Verne’s best character, but one of the greatest characters in all of fiction.